Digitizing tablets comprise a tablet and a writing mechanism (commonly referred to as a pen or stylus). A user can use the digitizing tablet to enter any information in freehand fashion. For instance, the user can use the digitizing tablet to enter writing information (e.g., alpha-numeric information) or to make drawings. Generally, the user enters any such information in one or more “ink strokes.”
In a special case, the user may use the digitizing tablet to enter supplemental information “onto” a base document, such as a word processing document, an Email, a PDF document, a markup language document, and so forth. That is, the user may enter supplemental information to mark certain parts of the base document in various ways. For example, the user may choose to underline a selected passage of text in the base document. Or the user may choose to draw a circle around a selected passage of text in the base document, and so on. In general, the user can apply such supplemental information to simulate the kinds of marks that the user might make when reviewing a hard-copy version of the base document, e.g., so as to draw emphasis to certain parts of the base document, to make certain corrections, and so forth.
All such supplemental marks are referred to herein as “annotations.” The digitizing tablet can store the annotations along with the base document. When the base document is reproduced, the digitizing tablet can redisplay the annotations at the appropriate positions within the base document. The digitizing tablet may also change the layout of the base document in various ways, e.g., in response to editing the base document. To properly display the annotations within a modified base document, the digitizing tablet should adjust the positions of the annotations so that the annotations continue to mark appropriate content in the base document.
The proper handling of annotations is a challenging task, particularly when the annotations must be redrawn on a modified base document. For instance, different kinds of annotations may have different respective characteristics. This means that different considerations may go into redisplaying different types of annotations on a modified base document. Conventional systems do not employ a mechanism for addressing this kind of complexity in the processing of annotations.
For at least the above-identified reasons, there is a need in the art for more suitable mechanisms for processing annotations.